Sacca: But four doesn't necessarily create a competitive environment. And four doesn't necessarily reflect what consumers demand. Think of the issue of local-number portability. For years, consumers demanded the ability to take their mobile-phone numbers to another operator, and it wasn't until the FCC actually acted and mandated number portability that it became a reality.

    So this isn't an entirely competitive marketplace right now. Prices are still way too high, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a large number of consumers who are satisfied with the cost of their service, the availability of their service and the features that the service offers.

    To go back to my question, does Google want to own and operate a wireless network of its own?

    Sacca: Google is willing to do anything necessary to introduce some competition into this space and to really drive the prices of service to where they are most affordable to the broadest number of people. It is reprehensible that there are still so many people left off the Net.

    That entails everything from building and operating a network, if necessary, to partnering with the vast number of companies left out of this game--for whom $5 billion is an insurmountable hurdle to participate meaningfully in an auction that could introduce true competition--to any of the existing carriers, if they want to put users first in their business models and prioritize those customer experiences.

    Google has recently said it would bid on the 700MHz spectrum only if the FCC guarantees certain open-access principles, including open access for companies wanting to buy wireless capacity wholesale. Does this mean that Google won't bid on spectrum if the rules aren't adopted?

    Sacca: To be clear, what we said was not exactly that. What we said was that there had been some concerns that somehow imposing these openness principles on the spectrum might diminish its value at auction. And we wanted to reassure the FCC that embracing a path of full openness in the interest of users and the interest of consumers would not reduce the total revenue of the auction. And we wanted to put our money where our mouth is, and we are putting our money where our principles are. So we committed to spending a minimum of $4.6 billion in the auction, if they adopted all four principles.